Maybe most people in Central Park on this Fall day did not pay any special attention to the woman riding a bicycle behind a young boy. But Ron Galella did.
The original news caption reads: Continue reading
Here’s a two minute clip from a 1966 British newsreel entitled, A Little Of What You Fancy.
The bikinis of 1966 look discreet compared to the dental floss beachwear some women display themselves in today.
The mini-skirt presented a real danger Continue reading
Philip Ippolito airplane being Inspected on George Washington Bridge December 26, 1965 Photo; AP Wirephoto
From SNCA reader Jason Smith comes word that Philip Ippolito who on December 26, 1965 at age 19, made an emergency landing on the George Washington Bridge, died on December 19, 2021, at age 75.
Ippolito died of a heart attack in his home in Suffolk County, NY. He lived with a long time girlfriend and had no children. Survivors include his older sister Rose and a younger sister, Janice. A brother Robbie died in 2019.
Ippolito and Brennan in hospital photo Jim Hughes for NY Daily News
In 1965 Ippolito was a flying novice, having logged only 85 hours of flight time. With his plane in distress, Ippolito made the risky decision to land on the bridge. Along with his passenger Joseph Brennan, the two suffered only minor injuries. Ippolito decided against touching down in the Hudson River because Brennan could not swim. The FAA later tried unsuccessfully to revoke Ippolito’s pilots license.
You can read the amazing full story which we covered in 2015 by clicking here. Continue reading
Doctor’s Orders
Because of the immense success of two episodes in the Dr. Kildare TV series which featured lovely Yvette Mimieux as the glamor interest for Richard Chamberlain, the handsome doctor of Blair General Hospital is to have the girl as his leading lady in a feature film called Joy In The Morning. For us, the appearance on the screen of enchanting Yvette Mimieux will make it joy in the afternoon or evening as well. – May 15, 1964 – NBC
After receiving hundreds of fan letters praising her appearance on Dr. Kildare Yvette Mimieux said, “People loved it because I played a vital, intelligent girl. She was a surfer but wasn’t cheap. Producers of vulgar pictures are exploiting the industry. They forget there are still many people of good taste.”
Yvette Carmen Mimeux was born January 8, 1942 in Los Angeles to a Mexican mother Maria del Carmen-Montemayor (1910-2000) and a French father, Rene Antoine Mimieux (1900-1978).
Yvette Mimieux was discovered by her manager, Jim Byron by accident when she was 15-years-old. Byron was riding in a helicopter on his way to an event and strong winds forced the helicopter to land on a bridle path where Mimieux was riding with a girl friend. Continue reading
Top Of The Pops (TOTP) ran weekly on BBC One Television from 1964 – 2006. The program would highlight the top charting musical acts and their songs. Unfortunately only five complete episodes of the 315 TOTP programs from the 1960s exist. The rest of the tapes were wiped clean for re-use as videotape was considered more valuable than preserving the program.
Lucy Culliton the daughter of former television director Tony Cuillton was going through the belongings of her late father at the family home in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, when she made an astonishing discovery.
On a shelf with reel to reel audio tapes, one small box was labeled “Easybeats print – Friday On My Mind.” It was a film copy of The Easybeats performance on TOTP from November 24, 1966.
Culliton had worked with The Easybeats earlier in 1966, directing the live music program It’s All Happening, and later an Easybeats TV special.
You’ll notice none of the musicians even have their instrument cords attached to amplifiers. So the performance is playback with live vocals from lead singer Stevie Wright.
In Australia Friday on My Mind was a number one hit and also charted well in Europe and the U.S.A. The song Continue reading
The Seymour families in the 1960s photo via theoldcuriousityshop.net
Cape Cod 60 years ago. Fewer people. No cell phones to tether your life to work. And fewer distractions when on vacation. It was a time to spend with your family. It was a simpler way of life.
For brothers Mike and Thaddeus Seymour and their families, the early 1960s was apparently an idyllic time. From 1959 – 2003 the families annually spent two weeks together on the Cape in Chatham and later Orleans.
The family have put a few of these home movie memories up on YouTube. Continue reading
This 1963 educational film is strangely compelling. It is a relic of a different time when there was little or no political correctness. Put aside the terminology used, stilted narration and warbled music. The 22 minute film was done sensitively considering when it was made and the difficult subject matter it tackles. Teaching other children (and adults possibly) what it means to be retarded.
Detroit Tigers catcher Bill Freehan at Yankee Stadium 1969
Before Thurman Munson and Carlton Fisk arrived in the late 1960s and early 1970s there was no question as to who was the best catcher in the American League. It was the Detroit Tigers Bill Freehan.
I won’t recount Freehan’s excellent baseball career or personal story in too much detail here. Freehan told it himself while at the height of his playing days in a little known autobiography.
Freehan’s terrific 1970 book, Behind The Mask: An Inside Baseball Diary (World Publishing) was written with editors Dick Schaap and Steve Gelman and was quickly forgotten.
It is one of the best books ever written about the nuances of baseball. Behind The Mask was overshadowed because it came out the same year as ex-Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton’s explosive tell-all Ball Four. Continue reading
Which One Is The Beatle?
Ringo Starr, one of the Beatles, puts a cigarette into mouth of his wax likeness during unveiling at Madame Tussaud’s Waxworks in London today. The museum now feature the Beatles among its replicas of well-known people. photo: AP April 29, 1964.
The Beatles wax figures at Madame Tussaud’s were the first rock band effigies to be displayed at the museum.
In 1967 the figures were lent out for Peter Blake’s photo session used on the cover of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band. Continue reading
National League’s Hank Aaron (44) steals second base in sixth inning. Rod Carew takes throw with umpire Mel Steiner on top of play in All-Star game. July 9, 1968 Photo :George Honeycutt Houston Chronicle
While reluctantly watching this year’s baseball All-Star Game there was a pre-game tribute to Hank Aaron who passed away January 22, 2021. This may have been the high point of the evening as the Fox broadcast and the game itself was lacking in any drama or competitiveness.
The All-Star Game has become a love-fest between the players and interleague play has ruined what was once a fierce rivalry between the American and National Leagues. In the 1950 All-Star Game in Chicago, Ted Williams fractured his left elbow making a leaping, off-the-wall catch on a Ralph Kiner smash in the 1st inning. Williams remained in the game, and put the American League ahead, 3 – 2, in the fifth inning with an RBI single. Ted Williams said he was never the same after fracturing his elbow. Williams, like many players went all out playing in the All-Star Game, which is an exhibition game with no meaning in the standings. The AL and NL teams used to badly want to beat the opposition in the annual showdown.
Not anymore. Continue reading
